April, Interrupted
by SleepingSeeker
Summary: 2k12 'verse. A tale of April's unraveling. Set after Buried Secrets.


**April, Interrupted**

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><p>She had seemed fine. After everything, in the quiet rush that adrenaline carves through your head, he noticed her sitting aside with a glazed, lost look in her eyes. And when he helped her to her feet, she smiled but still there remained that persistent dullness. Leo thought he recognized the heavy weight of depression lingering in his friend's eyes. Being all too familiar with the smothering fog that his injuries and drawn-out recovery along with the grief over the possible loss of his father had brought to him. So, he said nothing that night as he lie awake, as he did every night, praying for his father's miraculous return; listening to the farmhouse, to the gentle rumbling snores of Raphael, the mumbling sleep speak of Michelangelo and at long last, the creak of the stairs as Donatello returned from his lab in the barn to finally surrender to sleep. He lie awake and listened to all of this and knew his family's ebb and flow of activity even in their sleep. He had to. He was their protection, shabby and broken as he was.<p>

He blinked and as he opened his eyes noticed a shadow fly along the floor; swift and secret. He frowned and tensed as a noise further down the hall confirmed that he hadn't just imagined the sight. With a wince he swept his legs over the side of the mattress and reached for his crutch. He limped to the doorway and glanced out into the hallway.

Donatello stood at the top of the stairs, just outside the bathroom, lost in thought, or so Leonardo assumed, his head cocked at a funny angle, body tense. Slowly he looked at his brother and brought his finger up to his lips. Leo gave him a nod and remained where he was as Donatello crept down the stairs. He glanced around and edged himself just around the corner peering into the gloom of the sitting room.

Leonardo watched his brother's body language from the top of the stairway. Ready to hobble down as fast as his damn leg would allow, should he need him, but hesitant to make the journey. There was no need to endure more pain than absolutely necessary, or at least, that's what Donatello had explained every time he pushed too hard during his rehabilitation. When he strained too hard and set himself back by weeks due to his stupidity and impatience.

Donatello tensed at the sight of someone near the window but then relaxed with recognition. He took a tentative step towards her. She had one hand pressed flat against the glass, the sheer curtain was pulled aside and gripped tightly in her left.

"April?" he asked softly. "Are . . . Are you okay?" When she didn't answer he thought of something. In a whisper he asked, "Are you awake?"

He was within arm's reach of her when she peeled her palm from the glass, balled her fist and punched it through the window. Shards exploded outward and glittered in a million tiny specs as they dusted the floor in front of her. Donatello shouted in surprised. His arms went around her just as she slumped to one side.

"Oh! Oh, April! Why did you . . ."

"What happened?" Leo gasped and limped into the room, his eyes wide and darting. He noted the window, the night air spilling through the room, April lying limply in his brother's embrace where he knelt in an arc of glittering glass. He blinked in shock as Donatello held her right wrist up and away from her body. Her entire hand was covered in blood. Leonardo spun around before Donatello had a chance to even order him to fetch the first aid kit. He made it to the threshold of the kitchen when he was greeted by Casey leaping from the stairs, wielding a bat and Raph on his heels, tying his mask and asking what's happening in a loud angry voice. At the top of the stairs, Mikey rubbed one eye, his chucks gripped in his other hand, teddy bear tucked under his armpit.

Leonardo grabbed the kit from beneath the sink. He straightened and tossed it to Raphael. "Give this to Donnie."

He followed the sound of Casey's exclamations and accusations being hurled at his brother, a frown creasing his brow.

"What did you do?!"

"What did I do!? I didn't do _anything_!" Donatello hollered up from where he knelt, shaking with fury. Raphael opened the first aid kit as Casey turned on every light in the room.

"Now's not the time," Leo snapped at the boy as he paced, agitated and gripping his bat with white knuckled fury.

"Don't bark orders at me, Leo, I'm too stressed to deal with this!"

Leo clenched his jaw. Raphael hissed as he pried glass from April's hand that Donatello cradled in position for his brother to work. Leo could tell Donatello was extremely upset, but he needed his brother to get it together. He inhaled and released.

"Donatello," he started in a low voice, "tell us what happened."

"Yeah, start explaining," Casey snapped and Donatello narrowed his eyes at the boy.

He gave him one last glare and then looked at Leonardo. "Sh-She was standing by the window when I came down the stairs. Right here. Looking outside. I came up behind her."

"Oh great, so you scared her half to death and made her put her hand through the window."

Donatello tensed and had he not been holding April in his arms at the moment would have leapt at the boy. His eyes went flat with fury and he jumped as he felt Raphael's hand on his shoulder. Raph met his eyes and gave him a short shake of his head.

"I think I got out all the glass, which one do I use."

"The . . . The, uh, iodine, I think, yes. The little brown bottle. Then the gauze," he said in a wavering voice, then added softly, "Thank you, Raph."

"Stay calm, what happened next, Donnie."

Donatello nodded, grateful to have Raph as a calming force for a change. "I came up behind her and she just suddenly made a fist and punched the window."

"She didn't say anything?" Leo asked.

Donnie shook his head.

"Was she sleep walking?" Mikey asked as he inspected the window. He turned. "I'll get the broom."

Leo nodded and Casey paced behind him. "April doesn't sleepwalk."

Donatello and Raphael froze.

Leonardo asked carefully, "And you would know that, how, exactly."

"Uh, we've been sleeping in the same house, on the same floor for over four months now, Leo, I think we'd have noticed if one of us typically slept-walked."

Reluctantly, Donatello nodded. "No, he's right," he said softly looking at April's unconscious face as she frowned softly.

"What's that?" Casey rubbed it in, placing his hand next to his ear and leaning in.

"Can it, will ya," Raph snapped as he finished wrapping the girl's hand. He straightened up and glared at his friend.

"It's just not that often I hear something that actually makes sense coming from Purple, here."

Raph walked by Casey and gave him a soft shoulder check. "I said can it, bro."

April moaned and everyone went still. Her eyelids fluttered and she stirred in Donatello's arms.

"Easy, April," he murmured.

"Why don't you put her down, huh?" Casey hissed and pointed at the couch.

Donatello hesitated a moment, but then, feeling torn, not wanting to give in to the irritating boy's command but thinking that maybe the last place she'd actually want to wake up would be in his arms, he carefully stood and gently placed her on the couch. He stepped back to give her room as she awoke. When her eyes opened, she seemed fine. A little shaken as she sat up and glanced around. She didn't remember coming down the steps. She didn't remember looking out the window or punching the glass. She cradled her wrapped hand in her lap.

"I dunno what happened," she said placidly in a monotone.

Donatello crouched near her, but not too close. "Uh, would you like anything? Some tea?"

She smiled and shook her head. Then dropped it into her hand. "What I want," she said softly, her voice slightly muffled by her palm, "is to be," her voice rose, "LEFT ALONE!" she screamed and everyone fell back. She jumped up from where she sat and looked from each of them with wild eyes. "Is that too much to ask!? Can you please just LEAVE ME ALONE and let me rest?"

There was a beat of silence, then everyone sheepishly, frantically agreed that they could, in fact, give her some space and they were sorry. Nervously, they shuffled away from her, out from the room, glancing at one another with shocked and hurt expressions.

"Go!" she shouted and they hurried away. Scattering up the stairs and saying nothing more. Donatello's expression that of complete misery and Casey's ears bright crimson. Raph wide-eyed and grim faced. Mikey just looking sad as he nuzzled his bear and took the stairs two at a time.

Leonardo being the slowest, paused at the base of the stairs, he glanced at her over one shoulder, giving her one last look before he fled; heart racing and stomach in a knot. He knew she was going through a lot. But this seemed harsh, even for the circumstances. He considered telling her he was there for her, that he knew what she was going through. That he could be a shoulder if she needed it. Without pressure. He wobbled forward, only stopping as her voice filled the room.

"I knew you weren't my mom. I knew it," April said, her voice strained with tears, her back against the armrest facing him. Knees bent and arms hugging them close to her chest. She shook her head violently from side to side. "I knew you weren't her. I knew it. I won't be fooled any more. Not anymore. Not anymore. No one will fool me. Ever, ever again." She dropped her head and fell silent.

Anything that Leonardo wanted to offer or suggest died on his lips. He turned and gripped the railing, bracing himself for the discomfort of trying to climb the stairs without putting too much pressure on his injured leg. Behind him an odd sound rose from the room. He stopped and listened, his entire body on alert for danger, ready to protect his family however he could, broken though he was. The sound seemed alien and disjointed. Jangling and out of place. It took a moment for him to understand that he was hearing laughter.

April was laughing.

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><p><strong>AN:** Why would I start another multi-chapter?! Because I love tormenting the guys and this hit me and I thought, oh what a marvelous playground to romp in and explore. Hang on, dear readers.


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